Subaru

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Established by Chikuhei Nakajima in 1917, the Aircraft Research Laboratory company changed its name three times: in 1931 to the Nakajima Aircraft Co. Ltd., in 1945 - to the Fuji Sangyo, and in 1953 - to Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. In 1946, the concern produced its first scooters, and in 1949 - the first buses. In 1955, a few 1500 P1 sedan cars were built. In 1958, production of the small Subaru 360 cars started. Fuji Heavy was the first - in 1972 - to introduce 4x4 drive to passenger cars on a mass scale. Since December 1999, 21.12% of Fuji Heavy shares has belonged to General Motors. Subaru are produced in Japan, the USA (since 1989), Hungary (since 1995) and Thailand (since 2001 by the GM Thailand). In 2002, the production of Subaru cars in Taiwan was terminated.